Camp? Anyone use a tent?

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That was why I switched to Navy. If you were in a tent then that meant something went dreadfully wrong someplace.

My idea of roughing it now means a rainy day and only 100 stations come in on the satellite.

That's why I didn't join the Navy, because if something went dreadfully wrong then my only option was to float in the ocean and hopefully get picked up eventually. And hopefully not get eaten while I wait. Also, my favorite co-driver while I was running routes in Kabul was a Navy LT. Truly a joint environment anymore.

I could see you spending your retirement years in a mid-sized RV touring the Canadian and American coasts and countryside. Maybe not one of those greyhound bus-sized ones, but nice. With your FRS on a trailer behind you.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

I could see you spending your retirement years in a mid-sized RV touring the Canadian and American coasts and countryside. Maybe not one of those greyhound bus-sized ones, but nice. With your FRS on a trailer behind you.

That is the plan. Won't be an FRS though.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That is the plan. Won't be an FRS though.

Don't get anything Italian or your trips will be planned to go from dealer to dealer for maintenance.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Don't get anything Italian or your trips will be planned to go from dealer to dealer for maintenance.

That is 9 years away yet. Could be all hybrids with hover tech by that point.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That is 9 years away yet. Could be all hybrids with hover tech by that point.

I have doubts on the hover tech. Most people can't even drive safely in two dimensions; adding a third would be absolute chaos.


You're probably right about the hybrids though. Sigh. No more manuals, everything a CVT with electric motors, very boring.

[MuseChaser]

Gram gave a lot of helpful thoughts. I'd like to add that I've never regretted money spent on better equipment, and have frequently regretted purchasing budget equipment to save a few bucks. I've done a ton of tent-camping over the years, and have owned everything from the cheapest department store garbage to very good gear. In beautiful weather that's not hot or you're in the shade, pretty much any tent is fine. High wind and heavy rain are the great differentiators when it comes to tents. The Coleman, Eureka, Hillary and several other much worse tents I've owned over the years all leaked, and a LOT. Even with a properly setup ground cloth, we woke up sleeping in a puddle on many occasions. In hot weather and direct sun, it was like living in an oven, even w/ the windows and doors open. Moved up to a Kelty; much better, shed wind a WHOLE lot better, and a great design for ventilation even in rain. The full rain fly, however, was designed poorly and dumped water onto the corners of the main tent, where it eventually found its way into the tent. Close, but no cigar.

Now, I have a large North Face for family camping and a small NorthFace four season Mountain tent for backpacking. They are AWESOME. Completely stable; the large base tent withstood the fringes of a hurricane in North Carolina a year or two ago that collapsed almost every other tent in the park, AND we were bone dry inside. The small mountain tent is even better.

So, yeah.. you get what you pay for. If you're going to be tenting in bad weather, get a good tent. The better the weather, the worse the tent you can get away with. Get a good tent, with a FULL rain fly that covers the entire tent. You won't regret it the first time you get caught in a monsoon.

Enjoy!

Barry

[gramicci101]

I completely agree. So many people ridicule The North Face and others for being boutique gear for that winter Starbucks trip, but they really do make awesome products. All of my ski gear is TNF and I have never had any problems with cold, even when wet.

[MuseChaser]

I gotta confess I get a little bugged when I see Muffy and Biff at Starbucks wearing NorthFace "gear" (pullovers, fleece vests, etc), too, but North Face started out by making real gear for the true great outdoors then branched into boutique wear to shore up their profit margins. That's fine with me, as long as they still continue to make great real outdoor gear, too. So far, they've never disappointed me.

I should give a shout out to Kelty's customer service. Their stuff is maybe 2/3 of the way up from bottom garbage to true top end gear, but they do take their lifetime warranty very seriously, are easy to contact, very helpful, and really do stand by their products. I hated to part w/ our Mantra 7; for ergonomics and ventilation, it was the best tent we ever had. Unfortunately, the poles were under just a tad too much tension, the seams kept spreading, and we got leaks at the aforementioned spots upon which the rainfly emptied. To Kelty's credit, they took the tent back twice over a period of 5 years, reworked the poles, fully taped the seams, but I finally gave in and moved up to the North Face. It's not ventilated as well and it doesn't have as much overall interior headroom, but it's a TANK in wind and bone dry, so it wins. I'd definitely give Kelty another chance, though.

Barry

[cjd]

Ugh. North Face has disappointed me. Too many warranty claims due to bad assembly, and the attitude of the company was horrible. Mind you, I think I own a pair or two of gloves from them... I just managed a few shops for a while. Gloves were the only thing they made that fit me very well.

Tents - well, what's your budget and what do you want? I'm not going to repeat stuff that's already been said except: a good tent is worth the money. If I needed a cheap tent I'd look at Kelty. I wouldn't necessarily expect it to survive for that long before small issues cropped up. I own an older Mountain Hardwear (Room with a View) - for no good reason I reeeeeaaaaaaly want one of their base-camp domes; you could put your car in some of them! The tent designers that gave North Face their good stuff left the company and were part of the founding group for MH years back. Not sure where things lie today but... if you want a really solid tent, look at pictures of things like Everest base camp and other extreme places.